Flintoff's injury forces him to return home

Agencies

London: England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who is nursing a hip injury, was on Friday ruled out of the fifth and final cricket Test against the West Indies, starting at Port of Spain on March 6.

Flintoff, who is set to fly back home later today, will now undergo a rehabilitation programme and is scheduled to join the squad again on March 10, if the fitness permits. The England management sat together after the first day's play of the fourth Test at Kensington Oval on Thursday night and discussed the options to get Flintoff fit before the Twenty20 tie and ODI series that follow the ongoing Test series.

The medical staff recommended that the 31-year-old cricketer should temporarily quit tour so that he can receive better and more intensive rehab treatment, the official website of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Friday.

England will play a warm-up game in Trinidad on March 14, a day before the Twenty20 International, while the five-match ODI series begins in Guyana on March 20.